Friday, November 30, 2012

This seminar was something like no other. We were taught as females with vaginas or "front holes" some tricks of masturbating. Doesn't that right there say a lot about how intense this workshop was? There was only about ten of us there altogether and I knew almost everyone there that attended so I was comfortable enough to ask questions and learn new things about sex related topics.
I related this to the day we spend in class talking about LGBTQ(Q) terminology with Chris because during the seminar it was expressed to us that a lot of men and women say vagina, but that is such a general name for the whole area so when we talk about the vagina it is important that we are more specific in order to be more familiar with it. Deirdre, our seminar leader gave us some good examples of what to say in order to be more specific when talking about the vagina: Vulva, front hole.

Here are some of the notes I took:

Vulvas, vaginas, and front holes

“Vaginas are like snowflakes”

- A lot of women have
low genital self esteem because of porn. In porn every girl looks the same down there, their genital areas look the same, so women have this idea that it is how they should look. There are women who have actually went ahead and have gotten surgery in order to fit in and feel good about their vagina.

Sex Terminology:

Dominance and Submission

Abuse
- manipulations and when power and the level of consent is
kind of grey for both the partners

Erotica – Tristan Taormino

Squirting
- diluted urine because what happens is
that your hitting the g-spot which when you stimulate the gspot your release

The Vaginal Wall
- When you get wet it comes out of your vaginal wall

The clitoris
- very sensitive it has 1000 nerve reckoning more
than a penis

Kids grow up feeling shame and guilt when they touch their private areas
- when for example a grown up sees a little kid touching
themselves they smack their hand and tell them to stop, this causes them to feel shameful
- They learn to close up to this topic and are less likely to talk about sex with the parents unless the parents make the first step to talk about it

Menstrual cup- sold at whole foods near the tampons

Good brand names of the menstrual cups are: Dive cup or The Keeper

Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSX)

The most sensitive part of the penis is the frenulum, located at the
bottom of the head

When a male is about to cum the balls come closer to them
because its warmer

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Interrupting the Cycle of Oppression:The Role of Allies as Agents of
Change

Andrea Ayvazian

Connection:

In Interrupting the Cycle of Oppression: The Role of Allies
as Agents of Change by

Andrea Ayvazian, the author explains, “In each form of
oppression there is a dominant group… and a targeted group” (Ayvazian, 599). Ayvazian describes the dominant group as the
group “that receives the unearned advantage, benefit or privilege” and the
targeted group as the group “that is denied that advantage, benefit or
privilege” (Ayvazian, 599). I connect this idea of oppression having dominant
and targeted groups to the film we saw in class titled, Tough Guise. In Tough Guise
it is mentioned that the dominant groups in comparison to the targeted groups,
are the groups that barely get paid attention to positively in regards to the
fact they can also be oppressed and are never talked about. In the film for
example, it was explained that when we think of race, we think African American
people, Asian American people, Latin American people, but we never think of
White people. When we think of sexual orientation, we think lesbian, queer, bisexual
but we never think of heterosexuality. When we think of gender we think female,
but we never think of male. The point is that we tend to think of only the
oppressed group and forget to focus on the dominant groups which include, white
people, heterosexuality, and the male gender.

As I kept reading along, I began to learn about what being
an ally really means, what it is about, and what it entitles. An important
quote from In Interrupting the Cycle of Oppression: The Role of Allies as
Agents of Change by, Andrea Ayvazian, that summed it all up for me
is: “Allied behavior is clear action aimed at dismantling the oppression of
others in areas where you yourself benefit – it is proactive, intentional, and
often involves taking a risk” (Ayvazian, 599). An ally usually has more power
than the target and that is why they are able to become that ally and so it is
important that they take that step forward in even taking that position as an
ally to make a difference and stand up for justice, for hope, for kindness, for
equality, etc and challenge the perpetrator.

I went on to the internet to find out more information about
what being an ally is all about and I found these really great informative
websites that could give you a better understanding of what being an ally
really means. If you are still a little unfamiliar to the whole idea of what it
takes to be an ally or become an ally for someone else who needs it definitely
take a look through the websites below. I can guaranteed that you’ll probably
have questions regarding to what you will find but you’ll definitely get a
better understanding for you yourself first.

“The elasticity of privately held views regarding racism
appears to reveal a lack of knowledge about the nature of racism and
uncertainty about how institutions and individuals might appropriately respond
to expressions of racism.

I suspect that one of the reasons that opinions about racism
are so easily influenced derives from the high level of racial segregation that
still characterizes contemporary American society. Indeed, one wonders just how
much people’s ignorance about racism and lack of contact with other races
contributed to the verdict in the King case Although recent survey People for
the American Way indicated that many young Americans say they have a friend of
another race, most still know little about other racial and ethnic groups.”

I think that although some people have friends of another
race, they know little to nothing about their racial or ethnical group because
yes they can be friends because they hang out in school, but that doesn’t mean
that they hang out at each other’s houses. They may just see each other at
school so they don’t get that full experience of getting to know each others families
where you would really get a taste of one another’s cultures whether it is
through the kinds of foods you eat, what language is spoken mostly at home, or
the daily activities they take part in as a family or individually. Your
economic social status and the neighborhood you live in are some factors that
influence those activities you would take part in. For examples, there are some
families that take time to watch the news together, which is something I never
really did with my family. It would be coincidences if we all sat down to watch
it together.

This film was very intense for me. I was emotionally everywhere as I watched this film. At times I was confused about some of the things they said, I was sad, then I'd become angry, I'd become happy, and at times I would also want to cry. I can connect this with the phrase we talk about in class, "boys will be boys". There was a man in the film that talked about how "God say man must command, must give the orders." I can honestly say that it made me a little upset when he said this. I started to question his actions because if he is a believer in God, why is he rapping women? He is making them suffer in such a permanent way. He rapes and he takes away from these women, and what he takes away is something that he can never take back. Its something emotional, its physical, its personal, its much more than something that can be imagined, and to think about would drive one insane trying to figure it out because its something so deep. He is using God as an excuse to rape and that is just unacceptable, the rape itself is just unacceptable and hurtful to begin with. Hurt is actually an understatement. I connect this action with the phrase "boys will be boys" because it gives men an excuse for their behavior and what this man just portrayed saying, ""God say man must command, must give the orders." was to me translated as "boys will be boys".

Quotes from the
Victims of Rape and Sexual Violence:

“Everyday there is a new horror”

“Every time I sees a soldier in uniform I tremble” said a
victim

“You must pull together and help one another”

“We are considered half human beings”

“The woman is the mother of the nation”

“Take care of the women”

“Nurture, work so that the family can live, and carry
everything.

But it is the women who have also paid the highest price”

“If we destroy her, the rest is over”

“Women are suffering”

“We have forgotten what happiness is.”

Victums of sexual violence, rape are not accepted in their society

Rape is also destroying their society

These are Their Stories:

- Seven men raped a young lady and her rectum completely
burned out

- 4 year old female child rapped by a man in the village

Soldiers in the cognali army were raping women in the forest

- “they rape because of their need and then they feel like a
man”

- “God says man must command must give the orders”

She called it “sexual terrorism” the interviewer says

- she also says it is rare to see a raped woman get a second
chance

Thinking it would protect them from the battle the men were
ordered to rape

A man said before rapping the women he would make sure the
women were in good health, would look at her and determine whether or not she
looked sick.

Some women were rapped by at least 20 men he said.

The women police officer of rape and sexual violence says we
have to fight the problem of impunity

- Their bodies are suffering. They take the blood of their wound
after they force the women to abort when they are rapped and put it in a bowl
and tell them to drink the blood. The soldiers are all allowed to rape these
women.